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Old Plant Is Linked To Health Threats

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WHEN Frank Pena, a former Li Tungsten employee, heard about the recent discovery of 16,000 tons of radioactive material at the company's abandoned site in Glen Cove, he was disturbed.

Mr. Pena, who worked in the Speciality Department from 1973 until 1985, when the plant closed, handled chemicals that included acetone and hexane. And sometimes, he said, he worked along furnaces that cooked powders at 2,400 degrees.

''The smoke that came out of there was unbelievable,'' Mr. Pena said. ''You couldn't see your hands in front of you and, no matter how many showers you took, you were always dirty.

''We knew we were dirty, but never thought the place could be harmful. Now I'm worried that maybe there's something wrong with me. If we had found out all this stuff while we were working there, I don't think anybody would have stayed.''

George Brown, who worked in Li Tungsten's Reduction Department for 18 years, heard about the discovery of thorium and radium at the plant site in a televised announcement by Mayor Donald DeRiggi of Glen Cove.

Since he stopped working there, Mr. Brown said that he had been hospitalized several times for a malignancy on his throat and other ailments. He also has lost many teeth.

''A lot of things have happened to me, but I never connected them to working there,'' he said. ''Now when I hear about this, I wonder.

''We used to joke about the contamination, saying, 'I'm not putting my hands in that powder, I don't know what's in it.' Now I wonder how big a joke it was. I hope the joke isn't on us.''

At a recent public meeting in Glen Cove, Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials confirmed that 16,000 tons of slag containing radioactive thorium and several hundred tanks of unknown contents were found at the Li Tungsten site.

The site, which was abandoned in 1986, is on 19 acres adjacent to Glen Cove Creek. Li Tungsten, formerly known as the Wah Chang Smelting and Refining Company and, later, as Teledyne Wah Chang, was once among the nation's largest producers of tungsten.

Thorium, a radioactive element, was used to extract tungsten from its ore.

On the site now are nine dilapidated buildings, more than 150 chemical and processing tanks and thousands of barrels, containers and boxes containing ore residue. There are also about 200 drums containing waste chemicals.

The property is currently surrounded by barricades installed by the police.

Local, county, state and Federal representatives met recently to develop a plan to evaluate the possible exposures of former Li Tungsten employees to the chemicals and elements at the plant.

It has been estimated that 100 to 180 employees worked there at any time, said Dan Russell, the Glen Cove harbormaster. The danger to former workers from exposure to the materials must now be assessed, he said, adding that thorium is not only radioactive, but also toxic.

But there is very little danger to the public, Mr. Russell said, because thorium is a very low emitter of radiation.

The state's Department of Health and a team of doctors from the State University at Stony Brook will be working with Glen Cove officials to take medical histories of former plant employees to determine whether they were exposed to radiation or hazardous chemicals and metals.

The doctors now have the names of about 25 former employees and are trying to compile a complete list, said David Parkinson, director of the Occupational Medical Clinic at Stony Brook. Former Li Tungsten employees can call the medical team at 444-2460. ''At the moment, we're in the dark, since thorium is not a common metal,'' Dr. Parkinson said. ''We first must get a handle on the exposure that took place. When we get more information, we will decide whether it will be useful to examine the workers.''

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If medical or laboratory tests are administered, they will be financed by employees' insurance companies and the state's Department of Health.

According to Mayor DeRiggi, efforts to clean up Glen Cove Creek and the abandoned waste site were heightened earlier this year when officials of state and Federal agencies inspected the abandoned tanks, grounds and buildings.

In April, a tank of anhydrous ammonia was found beneath a building that was in danger of collapsing, he said.

On April 15, after the Coast Guard ordered prompt removal of the 9,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia contained in a 1,600-gallon tank, the process was completed in 10 hours. During the removal, volunteers of the Glen Cove Fire Department held hoses over the tank in case any vapors escaped.

At the end of April, when the Environmental Protection Agency found the abandoned barrels of residue containing thorium and tanks of unknown chemicals, the agency placed Li Tungsten on its Superfund list and ordered 24-hour security around the site.

Radiological surveys by the agency and the Nassau County Department of Health of the grounds at City Stadium, surrounding playground areas of Landing School and neighboring roads have shown no abundance of radioactivity, Mayor DeRiggi said.

The Health Department will continue to monitor the area and take air and soil samples. Studies of the creek and fish life are under way, as well as negotiations for the cleanup of the chemicals and other materials, the Mayor said.

New York State does not have any dump site for radioactive elements, and therefore must negotiate with another state to find a place to take the materials, Mayor DeRiggi said.

Although the consensus is that there is no danger to the general public, concerns remained for former employees and those who have wandered onto the property, which was unguarded since 1986, the Mayor said. The homeless, he added, have used the site as a place to sleep.

According to Rich Cahill, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Glen Cove situation, when compared to other nearby chemical sites, is not a major threat. There are no flammable materials there, and traces of radioactive materials are low level, he said.

As to the health threat to former employees, ''The jury is still out on that one,'' he said.

''I'm not nervous, and I won't let myself lose sleep over this,'' said Willie Oglesby, a former Li Tungsten employee who is now retired.

''When I worked in the plant, the owners never told us anything. But if the situation was that bad, more people would be dead by now.''

The radiation hazards are very low, said Dr. James DeLuca, a Glen Cove radiologist and a consultant to Mayor DeRiggi.

People with radiation contamination would show increased densities in their spleen or liver, he said, adding that, in his 30 years of practicing in Glen Cove, he has not seen or heard any evidence of damage to anyone from radiation exposure.